Charlotte, NC — No Streetcar Service Cuts

Rail Transit Online – April 2009

Service on the weekends-only Charlotte Trolley will not be reduced despite financial problems facing the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS). The agency has already cut rush-hour headways on the Lynx LRT line from 7.5 min. to 10 min., abolished six bus routes and cut back others, and has laid off 50 employees.

But CATS chief executive Keith Parker said the streetcar, which runs on LRT tracks from uptown to the historic South End, will continue its hourly schedule despite low ridership; only 483 people per weekend rode in February. The annual budget to run the replica Birney cars is $170,000.